The Zootropolis Outfit
by Ryu-Zero-Rei
Summary: While ruthless, Mr. Big has no mercy for drug cartels and actions speak louder than words. Rookie cop Judy Hopps tumbles into the mess of the developing gang war and gets the unlikely help of a sly fox who uses her, before he begins to tilt her world. Still, the new night howler drug starts to carve its ugly marks on the city and its denizen...
1. Chapter 1

**I write this story for practice since I've always struggled with languages, especially grammar and spelling. The second reason is to get back into the hobby of reading and telling stories and up it from telling to writing. **

**A few keywords for you dear reader to evaluate if this story could be to your liking:**

**Alternate Universe, WildeHopps, Romance, Drama, Crime, Mafia, Drugs, Violence, probably light smut**

**Of course, I changed quite a few aspects of the story and circumstances of the characters, so they will be a bit different but I hope they will be easy to recognize and associated with their original counterpart. There will be some OCs as supporting characters, but main characters will be Judy and Nick.**

**I hope you enjoy the read. Feedback is very welcome.**

* * *

With a sigh and the wave of one paw the mammals in the room fell silent and awaited the verdict of their boss. The focus was an old arctic shrew clad in an exquisite suit. He was seated in an ornate chair on the bear sized desk together with four other arctic shrews who were seated in a similar manner. An arctic fox stood behind him on his right. The other occupants of the office were a caribou with a claw scar on his head and face who was seated before the desk, as was an old wolf. Seven polar bears lined the walls of the office and one giant polar bear was directly seated behind Mr. Big himself.

"Get those dealers, get them to talk and ice them. Zootropolis is my turf and there is no respect to be garnered from drugs." Time and time again the boss of the Zootropolis Outfit had made it clear that neither drugs nor mammal trafficking were to be part of the underworld of Zootropolis, in no uncertain terms. Not that Mr. Big was naïve enough to think that it wasn't happening either way, but anything that seemed to be a growing syndicate was reason enough for the old shrew to make it a war. A war he was confident to win.

For a small mammal like an arctic shrew he had an impressive presence. Maybe it was due to the many polar bears who treated him with utmost respect, or maybe it was the hunkering form of Koslov who sat behind his charge. The most trusted of Mr. Bigs direct henchmen was a sight to behold. Larger than most polar bears and with a cold and impassive attitude he gave the clear signal not to mess with his boss, himself or the family.

"Boss, how about we use Nicholas? Isn't it time that he proves that he can become one of us? Besides he almost always knows everything that goes down in the streets and high society." This came from another arctic shrew who was seated on a chair less ornate than that of his boss. The eyes of 4 other shrews, one wolf, one arctic fox, one caribou and 8 polar bears landed on the shrew. There was a pause before Mr. Big sighed again. "Nicky is a friend of the family, but no made mammal. He is doing us a great service with maintaining Wild Times, but we won't drag him to the darkest corner of the underworld." With that this idea was obviously dismissed. Sure, Nicholas Piberius Wilde was no innocent mammal, not even by a long stretch, but he was only an associate in rank. And Mr. Big promised John that it would stay that way.

After a quiet humming the arctic fox began to talk with a calm demeanor. "We should send some enforcers and soldiers to do the dirty work, but I advise that one of them should at least talk to Nicholas for some information and input. That boy has a brilliant mind, even if he uses it mostly for mischief and hustling. How about we send Nyx?"

That suggestion left some tension in the air, even if asked that casually. Nyx Jaeger surely lived up to name and moniker as Night-Stalker as one of the best enforcers of the Big family. Mr. Big was unaffected by the tension and seemed to ponder the suggestion of his Consigliere. On one paw he wanted to keep Johns little boy out of this mess, but on the other paw it was true that Nicky was one of the mammals with the most connections. If it was just about information and the real work was left to Nyx… Mr. Big tried to read the face of his most trusted adviser, there seemed to be some information that the arctic fox was withholding at the moment. "Very well. Call upon Nyx and you gentlemammal will start the deployments of soldiers and enforcers in your turfs. I want that budding drug cartel down and iced."

After all mammals had left the office except Mr. Big, the arctic fox and their respective bodyguards the talk continued. "So, tell me Michael, why Nyx?" Angelo Big, boss of the Big family and king of the zootropolian underworld trusted his adviser, but it was time for answers to questions which couldn't be asked before. "Simple my friend. Our dear Nyx has experience with the distributed drug. Night Howler may be used as an upper and doping, but it is and was a drug used by the shady side of the military."  
"I see." Which lead the mafia boss to remember the beginning of Nyx career in the mafia. The background checks, trust tests, the talks. "This is unsettling. If my old head doesn't fail me, I remember what that awful drug can do to the body and mind. I assume you suspect more than just the intention of money with the distribution of that drug?" Which was answered with a serious nod from Michael.

At the same time one grey rabbit doe was exasperated and slightly rolled her purple eyes at her parents. "Guys… I've been working for this my whole life." Which prompted her mother to answer "We know. An we're just a little excited for you… but terrified." That surely wasn't the way Judy Hopps had imagined her farewell, but she would've been lying if she said she had not expected something along these lines.

She had always been the oddball in her family and her dream to become a police officer had always been controversial in her "farmer only family". It wasn't like it was unheard of that smaller mammals became part of the police force in this country. A lot of the officers of the settlements for smaller mammals were of similar types as the residents themselves.

It just so happens that Judy had been valedictorian of the police academy and therefore been assigned to the city of Zootropolis, instead of some smaller town like Bunny Burrows. She never told her parents, that she was shooting past the moon for the stars. They had been reluctant of her dream ever since, but probably thought and hoped she would either choose a different career, fail the academy or at least be stationed somewhere fairly save. Preferably Bunny Burrows.

But Judy had bigger dreams and after she had been accepted by the academy and flew thru the basic training of the police force, she had enrolled to the specialized courses to be able to apply for the duty in the big city. At first, she had been struggling, battered down and drained from the harsh and demanding training of the female polar bear instructor Major Friedkin. Judy persevered and found her own way of overcoming and mastering the problems her diminutive stature as a rabbit gave her.

She remembered the pride Major Friedkin showed with Judy's success and had congratulated her best student even before the official ceremony had taken place. It was a fond memory for the doe, even if she'd had a massive hangover after the unofficial party the cadets had together with Major Friedkin. In a way she could have done without her first major experience of a drinking party and the aftereffects… but no, she wouldn't have traded it for anything. It had showed the acceptance of her fellow cadets and her instructor, that she was a promising future police officer of the ZPD and not a small cop of a backwater town where the biggest concern would have been the breakup of a fight of two drunken bucks over some spilled beer.

She huffed in her mind as soon as her father began his lecture about the dangerous predators and especially warning her of foxes, again. Everyone was able to be a major jerk, not just foxes. It took Judy a while before her parents worried nagging abated. Her father presented her the anti-fox measurements he packed into her care packet. She took some fox repellent to placate her parents, after they recounted the story how in her youth some fox had left a claw scar on her left cheek.

After a last hug she boarded the train with a bittersweet smile while waving her family goodbye and was on her journey from Bunyburrow to Zootropolis. With a small sigh she went up to the observation deck to enjoy the scenery while listening to some music thru her EarPods. Subconsciously she felt the barely noticeable claw marks on her cheek and remembered to which length she had gone to conquer her budding fear of claws, fangs, predators and especially foxes in her teen years. Her thoughts drifted and she pushed them aside with a huff. No time to think about that, this was definitely not the place. Instead she took the fox repellent, shook her head and threw it into the trash bin nearby. Satisfied she began to muse about the big city and her very first own apartment waiting for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope you enjoy the read. Feedback is very welcome.**

* * *

Judy was giddy and looking everywhere, Zootropolis was a sight to behold. A bright smile adorned her muzzle while she was headed to her new apartment. Soon enough she spotted her new home where she was greeted by the landlady of the Grand Pangolin Arms and lead up to her new apartment. It really had some city charm, even if it was just a single room and not really in the best condition. She had a bed, a shelf, a kitchenette and a desk. She took the keys from Dharma Armadillo after the warning not to lose them and before she could take a step inside, Dharma was gone and Judy spotted her neighbors with some groceries.

She greeted both males happily and was quickly rebuffed by the kudu. "Yeah? Well we're loud." And without missing a beat the oryx added "Don't expect us to apologize for it." The next moment they had slammed the door shut to their apartment next door. Judy blinked before going inside her apartment and taking stock of her new living quarters. "Greasy walls… rickety bed…" and right on cue she could hear a vocal fight of her neighbors. "Crazy neighbors…" and with that she flopped on to the bed with a huge smile plastered on her muzzle. "I love it!"

While unpacking everything she could still hear her neighbors arguing and with a smile she shook her head. The doe thought that maybe it would be fun to live together with a friend in the future. It would certainly cut some cost and be less lonely. She was still a bunny and knew she would crave some cuddling from time to time. Though maybe a friend who wouldn't start arguing about everything.

Her first night was some kind of reminder. This was Zootropolis, also called Zootopia and anyone can be anything. A slogan she held dear to her heart and believed in. So, in light of this realization, she found her head covered by her pillow and her ears burning. She had thought her neighbors were friends. Her first mistake. She had thought they had warned her of their loud fights. Her second mistake. The noises, the words and the banging from next door made very clear who liked their horns grabbed while being on all fours. She bit her lip and sighed. "Well anybody can be anything… and they be lovers…"

She must have talked louder than she thought and the unlucky timing to speak when those two were finished. "You bet!" "No?! You're my husband!" "That's the same!" "No! It's not!" Which left Judy befuddled and she couldn't help but chuckling, till the fight led to round two, make up sex. With a groan she tried to hide under her pillow again.

The ringing of her alarm clock woke her up early in the morning and within a few seconds the excitement for her first day on the force had her clear eyed and bushy tailed. She donned her police uniform with a small Kevlar vest and was out and about. She even forgot the nightly events which had kept her from sleeping in the beginning.

As soon as she entered the ZPD building a lot of eyes followed her. Judy had learned to ignore those stares mostly and went up to the reception to ask for the way to the bullpen. A pudgy cheetah was munching happily on some cereals before Judy managed to get his attention. "'Scuse me! Down here? Hi." The bunny doe was smiling and the cheetah leaned over the desk. "O-M goodness! They really did hire a bunny- What?! I gotta tell ya, you are even cuter than I thought you'd be." Judy couldn't help but wince, but before she could say anything another mammal behind her laughed. "I wouldn't call her cute, I saw her knocking down a rhino in the ring." Judy swiveled around and looked up to see the friendly face of the black bear Bjoern Ursida, one of her fellow cadets from the academy. "Bjoern!" she was happy to see him. "Hey there Judy. Still on the fence if someone calls you cute and is not a bunny I assume?" Judy laughed a bit. "You know it."

The cheetah blinked and gave a sheepish smile. "Oh, wow. I didn't expect that. I should have known better. I am sorry." He looked down to Judy again. "Me, Benjamin Clawhauser, the guy everyone think is just a flabby, donut-loving cop, stereotyping you…" He had a genuine smile. "No offense, but did you really knock a rhino out?" Clawhauser was a bit awed by that and truth to be told he couldn't really wrap his head around that one. Now it was Judys turn to be a bit sheepish. "Yeah."

Bjoen just chuckled. "As I said, don't call her cute. She bested all others at the academy and is the little favorite of Major Friedkin." In turn Judy beamed up to her fellow rookie and then asked Clawhauser how to get to the bullpen. The cheetah looked after them as they made their way to their destination and showed a bit of admiration for the little bunny. She walked with so much confidence which belied her little stature. "Aw… that poor little bunny's gonna get eaten alive." He knew chief Bogo and could already imagine what would happen.

Inside the bullpen Judy was taken aback by the rowdiness of the officers but still made it to the front where she claimed a seat near a rhino officer. Bjoern on the other hand just started to mingle with some other predators which were at to the back of the room. All in all, the others didn't bother much with the new recruits in the room. To strike up some conversation Judy smiled at the rhino and introduced herself. "Hey. Officer Hopps. You ready to make the world a better place?" while she made a fist with her paw for a fist bump.

The rhino gave a reluctant fist bump and nearly knocked her off the chair in the process. A tigress gave her a warm smile all the while and before anything else could happen officer Higgins, a hippo announced the arrival of the chief. While everyone snapped to attention and started to stomp Judy couldn't do much but admire the chief. It didn't take long to reign the rowdy bunch in with a few stern words by the chief.

Chief Bogo was a muscular cape buffalo and exuded a no-nonsense attitude. "First item on the docket… we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room." While looking at the female elephant he nodded. "Francine, happy birthday." Which lead to another eruption of rowdiness, but it settled soon as Bogo spoke once more. "Second, I should introduce some new recruits. But I'm not going to, because I don't care." The answer to that were some chuckles of the older officers which were already familiar with the attitude of their chief.

"Assignments! Officers Grizzoli, Fangmeyer, Delgato… your teams take patrol in the Rainforest district. Officer McHorn, Rhinowitz, Wolfard, your teams take Sahara Square. Officers Higgins, Snarlov, Trunkaby: Tundratown. Take Ursida with you." All the while the officers stood up an took the files handed out with their respective tasks. Before leaving the room Bjoern flashed Judy a smile. "And finally, our first bunny, officer Hopps." Judy straightened her back in anticipation and Bogo took a deep breath. "Parking Duty. Dismissed."

Judy deflated a little. "Parking duty?" then she ran after the chief. "Uh, chief? Chief Bogo?" And Bogo turned around to look at her. He was right in his assessment about his new recruit he had made beforehand. "Sir, you've sent all others on patrol duty. You probably forgot, but I was top of my class, I can handle…" Bogo interrupted her. "Didn't forget. Just don't care." Visibly Judy started to get more agitated, but remained polite. "Sir, I'm not just some 'token' bunny."

Nothing helped and Bogo didn't budge from assigning her to parking duty. So, after he left, she stomped her foot in rapid bunny style. "I'm not just going to write tickets, … I'll break some records. I'm gonna write 200 tickets! Before noon!"

Chief Bogo sighed as he sat down in his office. "That bunny is gonna be a lot of trouble." It was the same every year. The valedictorian was assigned to precinct one and was an overachiever which needed to be treated to a healthy dose of reality. The academy was not real life and nothing was ever enough preparation to face the real dangers. Same as all the other times he assigned the dreaded parking duty to knock the new rookie down a peg or two. Though this time he wasn't doing it just for the same routine as always, but he was concerned for the small bunny. In his mind it really wasn't such a good idea to assign such a small mammal to a big city force.

Even if he didn't show it, one of his top priorities was to get all officers back in one piece at the end of the day. Not that it was always possible, but stopping to strive was the same as a crushing defeat. Sure, Judy Hopps had been top of her class, but she still was at a much higher risk for being just a bunny. He was not really happy with the situation. The biggest questions were with whom should he partner her up and to which district assign.

But for now, he had to go through the reports of the increase in violence and the increase in positive drug tests. Those damn gangs seemed to start a bigger venture in the lucrative drug segment of organized crime. It was unfortunate but the mobsters of Zootropolis seemed to have reconsidered their stand on drugs, or there was a new budding syndicate in the city. Either way both notions didn't bode well…

Judy, true to her word, managed to write 201 tickets before noon. Even if one ticket had been for her own parked duty car. Still, she was happy with herself and thought about a small break. But before she could do that, her ears picked something up and she was drawn to a small alley. Cautious she neared and looked down. "Here you go." A weasel had received money and gave a tiger a small bag with some blue pills. "Thanks man…. SHIT!" The tiger had spotted her and ran off like the devil himself was after him. It didn't take long for the weasel to look over his shoulder and running off himself.

In a split-second Judy ran after the presumed dealer, throwing hat and vest away. "STOP! Stop in the name of the law!" Which just prompted a sneer from the weasel. "Catch me if you can Cottontail!" The chase went through Savannah Central and the tumult got the attention of Officer McHorn but Judy had ignored him and sped after her target. The chase continued and within a few moments she found herself in Little Rodentia, amongst frightened mice and shrews.

She managed to catch up to the weasel after he had wreaked a bit of havoc and flung him onto the street and over a small donut joint. Without any hesitance the weasel kicked the giant ornamental donut at her and she ducked, before she turned around to catch the donut. She prayed that she would be fast enough before the donut would crush a mouse. Just in the nick of time she managed to catch the giant donut before it would've crushed a female shrew. With deep breaths Judy smiled at the little shrew and complimented her hair, before turning around and running back to where the weasel started to get up.

Before the weasel had time to stop padding his own back, he was face to face with the rabbit… and promptly and effectively capture with the giant donut. With a smirk she read him his rights, while the weasel could only grumble. It didn't take long to escort him out of Little Rodentia where she was greeted by McHorn. "What was that all about?" he demanded and took the weasel of her paws. "I saw him sell some pills to a tiger, as soon as they spotted me, they ran." McHorn was a bit speechless, but shook his head. "Officer Hopps, we have to inform headquarters and drop him off."

Judy was giddy with excitement, even if she tried to maintain a professional face, while giving the precinct the head ups via radio. They arrived at the precinct and McHorn escorted the weasel to the holding cells. Before Judy could even say anything, a deep booming voice called her name. She looked up and saw chief Bogo, pointing to his office. Without hesitating she ran up the stairs and followed her chief into the office. He signed her to sit and commanded her to wait, while he left the office. Bogo remerged after almost 30 minutes in which Judy had began to reflect what was happening.

The meeting with the chief went differently than Judy had anticipated. She had to sit in front of him on a chair way to big for her and she felt like she was a little kit again in front of her school principal. It hadn't taken long for Judy to realize she would be getting scolded.

"Abandoning your post, neglecting to inform the precinct, going after a presumed criminal without partner or backup, while not even armed due to parking duty, inciting a scurry, reckless endangerment of rodents but to be fair… you caught a criminal and after initial investigation and scouring the suspect, it is clear that he is a drug dealer." That gave Judy a bit hope and her ears were on their way up from the drooping position from before, but as soon as chief Bogo leaned forward her ears fell back again. She gulped because the chief really seemed pissed and after everything, he said… she could understand why. Judy had made a lot of mistakes, some not even befitting a rookie…

"Sir, I…"  
"Shut your tiny mouth, now." Bogo slammed his hoof on the table and Judy sat back down; she hadn't even registered that she had stood up on her chair.  
"This is the reason you were assigned parking duty. You are a greenhorn, overly eager and don't know when to quit. Still, I expect more from the valedictorian of her class than those mistakes who could have killed her, or innocent bystanders. I would ask what went through you mind, but I don't care. I demand more of my officers. I assume that you are able to follow orders and procedures. You chased a drug dealer who may have been armed without asking for backup. I should suspend you for this Hopps."

"Sir, I just don't want to be a meter maid… I wanna be a real cop. And I'm sor…" Judy tried to explain herself and to apologize. "Life isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and your insipid dreams magically come true. So let it go." There was an uneasy silence between them and Bogo huffed, while crossing his arms. Truth to be told, he was glad that there was an arrest of a drug dealer. Especially since those blue pills were probably that awful new night howler drug. But he could not reward her for the reckless behavior. "You will be on parking duty for the next two weeks and I don't want to even hear the squeak of a complaint from you. You will review the rules you broke today in your report, with citation. One more misstep and you'll be back to the academy and then delegated to a small backwater town. Did I make myself clear?" Bogo grumbled. He still wasn't fully onboard with such a small mammal being on the ZPD force…

Judy nodded and added a depressed 'Yes, Sir'. She was dismissed for the day and sent home. She trotted back down, while she ignored the sympathetic looks of the other officers. It was clear that some officers had heard what happened. There was no delusion, this would make the round through the rumor mill. Her ears were burning in embarrassment and for her this was similar to a walk of shame. She was even forced to make a report of her 'lost' vest and hat… and of course had to get them replaced and donned them reluctant.

The doe was glad when she finally arrived home where she sat down at her desk with a depressed groan. She still wore the new vest and laid the hat on the table. Before she could do anything else, her phone vibrated. Looking at it she steeled herself. Her parents wanted to MuzzleTime and with a deep breath and a fake smile she accepted the video call. The initial banter wasn't so bad, even if Judy had to lie about how great her first day on the force had been. It went downhill as soon as her mother spotted her meter maid vest. It would be an understatement to say her parents were elated, that she landed the 'safest job' on the force. Still, to hear her dad say she wasn't a real cop had hurt something fierce. She managed to choke off the conversation and slumped in her chair. After a deep breath she tried to motivate herself. "Tomorrow's another day…" Of course, her neighbors had to hear everything. "Yeah, but it might be worse!" "Leave the meter maid alone! Didn't you hear her conversation? She feels like a failure!"


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you enjoy the read. Feedback is very welcome.**

* * *

"Pawpsicle! Get your frozen treat here!" A fox with a green pawaiian shirt was waving a red popsicle in the form of a pawprint around. A charismatic grin was plastered on his muzzle and it didn't take long before the first children dragged their parents along to the stand with the frozen sugar bombs.

The green eyes of the tod were twinkling with a bit of mischief while selling, but the parents were just exasperated with the antics of their children. Most of them knew that it would be an expensive weekend when coming into the unofficial Zootropolis district with the apt name of Wild Times. Wild Times was a place which every mammal in Zootropolis visited at least once while in the bustling city. It was something of an open theme park, with hotels, bars, shows, attractions, casinos… there was something to discover for every kind of mammal of any social standing.

It was situated at the west coast of Savanna Central and founded around 12 ago. At that time, it wasn't much more than a small theme park with a few attractions. It gained popularity quite fast and soon a lot of investors hopped on the train, before it became more of a small district focused to offer the best time for any mammal. The rich tended to gravitate towards the casinos and shows, the families took their kids on the rides and some mammals just frequented the bars and party mile.

In front of one of those attractions was the pawpsicle stand, which was completely razed by the army of children for now. A happy fox counted the money he got in just under 1 hour. "That should be enough for today." With a self-satisfied smile the fox known as Nick Wilde packed up and was about to drag his small booth to his van. "Hey! Nick!" The fox turned around and looked at the beautiful ocelot while giving her a lazy smirk. "Hey there pandakitten." "You'll never drop that 'Nick'name, will you?" The female albino was shaking her head in mock annoyance with a smile, before she fixated the fox with her bright blue eyes.

Nick gave her a quick once over. She wore her typical attire for her off days, simple and a bit more on the loose fitting but still sporty side of things. Today with wide three quarter long pants in dark blue and a white top which exposed one of her shoulders.

"Will I drop that 'Nick'name? No, no I won't. You're a cat with black and white fur." he gave a good-natured laugh and wink. "You are early today pandakitten, it's noon. No nightshift today?" "Yea, but it is just way to hot to sleep… so I thought I go an pay my favorite fox a visit and try to hustle… I mean ask for something frozen and delicious." Though as she looked past him to the empty booth her whole demeanor started to deflate a little. "A bit late for that." The fox seemed to think and then grin. "So how about we go and snatch a few milkshakes? And yes, this time I'll be paying. You haven't won a bet in 3 months and neither have you managed to outhustle me. You are due for a consolation prize." She simply stuck out her tongue at him, before helping him.

"So what kind of bet did you lose today Elize? I assume the usual shakes for the both of you?" The voice seemed old, but friendly and was owned by an old male zebra who looked at the two. "Today Nick will pay." Elize was smiling and took no offense at his assumption of another loss. "Oh? Consolation prize?" Her smile became wider. "Yep!" Which just coaxed a chuckle out of the zebra and the fox. "Take your seats, it won't take long."

The ocelot and the fox took their seats near the window. It was a quaint little milkshake bar on the edge of the Wild Times district. The ambience was straight up vintage and if you asked anybody who visited even once, they would tell you that this little shop was the best place for the liquid happiness called milkshake. They got their shakes soon after sitting down and Nick smiled at his blueberry shake, while Elize drank her cookies n' cream shake happily. It just took some moments before Elize emitted a growling purr. Not really loud but it was a stark contrast to her blissful smile and sipping on the milkshake. She sounded more like she was really upset by something, but her body language said something completely different.

Nick couldn't help but laugh a little and the growling stopped, with Elize sending him a questioning look. "Nothing, just your happy growling." With a smile she focused on her shake and silently began to growl again. Chuckling the fox gave into the sweet temptation of his drink until his phone started to vibrate and after quickly checking the message he sighed. "Sorry, seems like I have to cut our date short. I've got another job."

"No worries Nick. You're still up for my shift tonight at the bar?" "Wouldn't miss it for the world, maybe I'll bring a friend along. Name's Nyx." Elize tried to read the sly smile of her friend. "A lady friend named after a night goddess?" her smile was warm and a bit curious, though Nicks smile just grew a bit. "Heh, who knows. You might learn more about my friend tonight" and with a wink he stood up. He went to pay for the shakes while emptying his own on the way to the counter.

The black and white ocelot looked after the fox with a thoughtful expression. She was sure that he was up to something, but couldn't put her paw on what that was. Why would Nick announce bringing a lady friend over to the bar? She shrugged her shoulders. No use to try and figuring that out for now, she would simply have to take his scheme head on. Still something bothered her, maybe it was that Nick had felt the need to share the name of the friend?

It was just a bit later that day and Nick found himself at the largest casino of Wild Times. With a lazy gait he entered the large modern building and went to one of the elevators in the lobby. Nobody paid him any heed and pressing his paw onto a screen within the elevator he began his ascend to the top floor.

It was everything everybody would expect of the top floor of such an establishment. Classy but clean designs, a distant vibe of office and CEO floor. Warm light brownish colors with shiny black accents, a few choice frames of modern paintings and breathtaking pictures of the skyline of Zootropolis. Obviously, it was designed to impress without being overly screaming rich and tacky, while entertaining the idea that this floor was not just made for management but also to host events for a certain clientele.

"Good morning Sunshine" Nick showed his charming side again as he approached a middle-aged lioness wearing a form fitting dress suit in Bordeaux red. She looked up at him and smiled warmly. "Hello mister Wilde. Again, thank you for the flattery." With a small laugh and smirk Nick shook his head. "As long I get a smile out of you." "You always know how to make my day mister Wilde. Mister Lupson is waiting for you in conference room Bering"

He thanked her an was on his way from the lobby to the left corridor and looked at the tags of the rooms in search of Bering. He passed 'Amazon', 'Gobi', 'Marden' until he found 'Bering'. As soon as he entered he was greeted by a gruff but friendly voice. "Nicky my boy, good to see you this soon." After shaking paws with the old grey wolf both sat down, facing each other. "No problem Steve, but I must say I'm curious why you called upon me on such a short notice. Normally you give me some information and enough time to prepare to give you a solution for the big-time hustles. Or is there any problem with the last plan on evading a few more taxes?"

Nick was well known in the underworld for a few reasons. First of all, it was no secret that he was well informed about anybody and almost anything, he was well renown as an informant. The second reason were his ties to Mr. Big, even if it was just by being friends. Most of the underworld suspected that the ties ran deeper but weren't to sure on that end. The truth of the matter was, that Nick wasn't just an informant and a professional hobby hustler, but he was an adviser to Stephan Alan Lupson aka Steve. And Steve was one of the capos of the Zootropolis Outfit and always had an open ear for the ideas of the fox and heeding and fostering those ideas was one of the best investments the old wolf had ever done. The whole idea of Wild Times was an idea of Nick with funds and additional input from Steve and his crew. Lucrative and the hub of the Outfit for money laundering and a lot of borderline legal and some illegal tax evasions.

The wolf smiled and shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Don't worry, so far it's working out to tweak the numbers to look like more tourists are visiting. A new steady small increase of leeway. But again, not why I invited you." With a hearty laugh Nick interjected. "You mean more like summoned me." It was all in good humor, but Steve being a capo was still a fact and Nick was just an associate, so it was reasonable to take most invitations as a kind of order.

"Well, maybe." Acquiesced the wolf. "I just wanted to give you the heads up. As you know a new drug hit the market, nothing to unusual, but…" The smile of both had vanished and Nick interjected. "…but the sheer amount of trade of that new drug points to cartel or another mafia invading. Yes, I noticed. This Night Howler drug is becoming the new favorite upper and doping wonder in the city." The fox crossed his arms and looked up to the ceiling.

"Yes and Mr. Big has ordered to crush them under our heels." Which didn't surprise Nick even in the slightest, but he now looked intently at the wolf. "Mr. Big requested your help. As always not on the frontlines, but your knowledge of the city and its mammals. You'll work together with Nyx." This gave fox a little pause and then a small laugh while shaking his head. "Man, here I thought the invitation from Nyx was for a fun night, now I see it's about business."

Steve smirked and his eyes were sparking with amusement. "Well, not like you couldn't have a bit fun on the job. I bet Nyx won't say no to that. The last time you two had time together was over two months ago with all the jobs handed out to the Night-Stalker, right?" Which again nudged a laugh out of the red fox. "Heh, I'm not that kind of mammal Steve. Though I must admit it will be good to see my friend again and having few drinks in good company, who would say no to that?"

They continued to banter in good humor for a bit longer before parting ways. Just before Nick could leave, Steve reminded him about the family dinner. "Hey, I'm not old enough to need forget that." With a wink and a laugh, the red fox was gone. Steve sat back in the chair and smiled a bit. Nicholas Piberius Wilde was like family for him, not just because of the mafia. He was like his favorite nephew and he was an excellent adviser with a brilliant mind, though maybe a bit to bend on being a kind of trickster and hustler. Nick really liked to hustle and trick others, it seemed like small challenges the red fox enjoyed to win.

The DDD was quite the famous bar in Zootropolis, it was in the heart of Wilde Times party mile and accommodated all kind of mammals. Not just offering drinks and snacks, but dancefloors as well. The bar was separated into different rooms and floors with varying themes. It was like a wild and loose copy of the City in that regard. In one of the rooms for the employees was Elize, changing into her attire for work. Shedding her regular clothing and smoothing out her white fur with the black markings she began to hum tune.

The ocelot looked at the mirror at her back and smiled, before donning a black tube top with blue accents which left her midriff exposed and followed by a snug fitting jeans resting on her hips. The getup accentuated her athletic body and showed her fur pattern quite nicely.

Today her shift would revolve around dancing on the live stage as a backup dancer. That wasn't an everyday occurrence, in most cases she would be the barmaid or sometimes a waitress. Though if Elize was honest, she loved it when she got the chances to dance for the crowd. She loved to dance and it was definitive a bonus to so and get paid at the same time. On the other side it was a lot more effective to work the bar and even more so if she worked as a waitress for the private booths. Rotary shifts and assignments wouldn't let her choose what to do and where. "No need to dwell on that… I'll enjoy moving my body tonight!"

Elize was on stage, dancing and humming along. Her body swayed and flowed with the music, moved with the beat and she forgot everything else. She didn't notice the stares of the audience and was in her own little bubble of happiness. Dancing the minutes away with the other backup dancers while some upstarting young mammal was singing. Her body remembered the hours of practicing with this group and this songs. Even if this was not her first time performing this gig with that particular group. It was a recurring event every two weeks, but sadly this was the last gig with this group before something new would replace it. With a bit of luck, the performer would choose her to dance as well. Paid practice and more dancing were always welcome to the ocelot.

After almost an hour of stage performance and a quick shower afterwards she was clad in more conservative clothes, even if they were still form fitting. It was simple black dress pants and a white blouse with a name tag. She was still smiling and her blood was still singing and urging her body to dance with the music, but she had reign in her passion. She had a job to do as a barmaid and try to catch a snippet or two of the conversations that took place. Even if it was fruitless to do so, unless she was ordered to attend a private booth… Still it was her job. The work at the bar was nothing but a ruse, as her real employer was the city itself and more specific the Zootropolis Bureau of Investigation. Which in turn was a direct branch of the FBI.

While working to fulfill the orders of the customers she wondered why the higher ups thought that the undercover work in this establishment would yield anything new on the ZO, the Zootropolis Outfit. It was an open secret that the ZO controlled Wild Times and that some of the mafia frequented the party mile in that part of town. Even if some of the small fries tend to meet in the private booths with clients and rich people it wasn't really helping to gather intel on them in the grand scheme of things. This was more inline with normal police work to get some criminals. Well, she got paid, could dance from time to time and got a bit of extra money due to a second job. It was fairly safe as well, so she shouldn't complain.

Her thoughts drifted to a very charming red fox, who was nowhere to be found. If she was honest with herself, she was a bit disappointed. Nick had been present to all her performances so far and she enjoyed to speak with him every opportunity she got between serving the other customers. He had a lot of interesting stories and the most interesting mammals frequently sought his company while he sat at the bar. It was as he said, he knew everyone. But no Nick for now.

It was another hour of manning the bar in the dim light, before her boss approached her. He was a stout stag wearing a white dress shirt with a black vest. "Maracaja, you are requested for private booth seven. So, move your tail up there." Sometimes he seemed a bit gruff, but he wasn't so bad and was actually a quite understanding and friendly mammal. Just a bit impatient and direct, at least while not talking to customers. "Hm? Okay?" She gave a little wave and went on to her new and quite unexpected assignment. It wasn't often that one of the staffs was directly requested for the private booths.


End file.
